Recreation football teams based in Barrow County will begin competing in the North Georgia Youth Football Association this fall.

The move, according to recreation director Kurt Cooper, should benefit the teams not only in the present, but benefit football as a whole in Barrow County down the road.

“Hopefully, by joining this league it will give us more opportunties than before,” Cooper said.

Teams will be able to compete against out-of-county foes. Players will line up against those their exact age. For example, there will be teams comprised of players 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12-year-olds. There will no longer be combined age groups.

“A lot of what we had been doing will remain intact though,” Cooper said. “In speaking with parents and others involved, the feedback has been 100 percent. They enjoy the idea of competitive recreation football.”

A meeting is scheduled for March 6 at the recreation department at 6 p.m. Barrow County based teams will compete in the Southern Conference of the North Georgia Youth Football Association along with teams from Commerce, East Jackson, Jackson County, Jefferson and Madison County.

“Right now we want people to be aware if what we are doing,” Cooper said. “We have wanted to get a unified competitive program in Barrow County. Jefferson High School just won the state football championship and those players have been competing together since they were 11 and 12 years old.”

Cooper said local high school coaches have expressed support for this idea. Last year a Winder-Barrow competitive youth team was formed as coach David Wagner wanted to begin laying the groundwork for future varsity teams.

The ergular season games will continue through Oct. 26, followed by three more weekends of playoffs for teams who qualify. The final weekend for football season will be the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

All football teams play an eight-game regular season schedule and get one bye week. Regular season games end Oct. 26, followed by three more weekends of playoffs for teams that qualify. The final weekend for football season is Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Home games will be at Winder-Barrow High School, Apalachee High School, Westside Middle School and Russell Middle School. All games will be on Saturdays.

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